Tips For Driving Traffic To Your Blog

I'm recycling my blog post. I've previously wrote a post about this topic right when I started this blog. With a couple years of experience under my belt, I've revised it a bit. So, if you want a bit of hard earned advice on how to drive traffic to your blog - here are a few suggestions:

1. Update your blog frequently and consistently - a static blog attracts no attention! Use lots of pictures - people like to look at pretty pictures - like the photograph I took of the hollyhocks. What do they have to do with this post? Nothing other than to capture your attention. And speaking of a attention...

2. Keep your blog post short and to the point. You've got to capture your reader's interest in a few short sentences. If you don't your readers will be moving onto the next blog. This post is an exception to the rule.

3. Check out the blogs of other bloggers and leave comments or sign their guest books. I've found that when I leave comments/sign the blog guest books of other bloggers they'll reciprocate in kind with my blog.

4. If you're a photographer or a crafter, do you have a Flickr account? If you don't get one. If you do have a Flickr account, have you joined any groups? If not, you should. There's a group out there that will cater to just about any interest. When you join a goup make sure you participate in the group discussions. I'll bet you dollars to donuts that someone has started at topic regarding blogs - most likely they're interested in driving traffic to their blog and or linking their blog to another blog.

5. Sign up on Blogcatalog.com and fuelmyblog.com - they'll drive some traffic to your blog. There are other web sites that do the same thing - these are the two that I can think of off the top of my head (If you scroll down towards the bottom of my blog - you'll see how many services I've linked my blog too).

6. If you have an Etsy account - include a link to your blog on your profile page, post in the forums (especially the Promotions forum) -again the name of the game is to promote your blog and drive traffic to it. Also, check out the Etsy groups in the Flickr forums - get to know the other members of Etsy and Flickr - they're a curious lot - they'll want to check out your blogs, shop and photographs.

7. Promote other artisan's work or their blogs that you come across while viewing your favorite sites (Flickr, Etsy, PoshMama, Capitola Girl for example) and let the artist know - everyone likes to know that they are receiving recognition for their hard work.

What I really want you to know is that it's going to take a lot of work driving traffic to your blog - it's going all about promoting yourself and networking with other bloggers. Matter of fact, you'll probably spend more time networking and putting yourself out there than you will writing your blog. And for you crafty types -don't forget why you started your blog - remember to spend some time crafting.

Is blogging worth it? I can't really say for sure. It seems like it is but then I don't have a lot to show for it sales wise. One thing I do know, you get exactly what you put into your blog. The more attention you pay to your blog the more attention you'll get.

Happy Blogging!

PS: Don't be a stranger - leave me a comment or two or sign my guest book!